Forster confident he can be on the plane to Brazil after breaking clean-sheet record

Respecting the finest traditions of superstitious goalkeepers, as soon as Fraser Forster sensed the interest increase in his streak of clean sheets he shut up shop off the park as well as on it.

At the risk of some loose words being followed by one slack moment to the detriment of his Celtic team, the Englishman kept his thoughts to himself as the weeks without conceding a goal passed to mounting awareness.

He was tempted out of the silence by receiving the SPFL Player Of the Month award for January. During the month, he achieved five league shut-outs to go with five from December.

Main man: Celtic keeper Fraser Forster is put through his paces during training

By keeping out St Mirren in the first league game of February, Forster stretched his streak to 11 and broke Charlie Shaw’s 92-year record — to no small acclaim from supporters and team-mates.

The news was acknowledged by the English Football Association’s website. Acknowledged, yes. Appreciated? That’s another question. The longer Forster goes on denying Scottish Premiership strikers, is it possible the greater the scorn from the south?

There appears to be a Gran Muralla constructed at the border, dividing opinion on the true worth of his achievement.

Greek and Swedish national coaches don’t seem have stalled over selecting Georgios Samaras or Mikael Lustig in the last three or four seasons. Yet southern-based observers wishing to decry Forster can simply stick to mocking the quality of the opposition incapable of scoring a goal against the runaway leaders of a non-event league championship.

As for the record’s merit in direct relation to the 25-year-old’s chances of being selected by Roy Hodgson to represent England at the World Cup Finals, a big clue will emerge when the squad for the Denmark friendly on March 5 is revealed.

About time, then, after dodging snipers including Peter Shilton that Forster came out and spoke in vindication of the excellent performances which fully deserve to see him back up England No 1 Joe Hart this summer in Brazil.

End of the run: Forster kept 11 clean sheets in a row until he conceded against Aberdeen last weekend

‘I’ve obviously read Peter Shilton’s comments (that Forster would have to leave Celtic for the sake of his England career) but, in my eyes, I got the opportunity to get into the England squad through being at Celtic and my first England cap while playing for Celtic,’ said Forster.

‘So I don’t see it being a problem playing in Scotland. International football is obviously a step up in level, but that is the case whatever league you’re playing in.

‘I’m convinced that I can make it to the World Cup. You’ve got to be. I would love to be on that plane. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of a World Cup finals in Brazil.

‘It would be something special and a fantastic way to finish the season. But you can only do what you can do, play as well as I can for Celtic and hope that is enough in the end.

‘I have to continue to put the performances in here and hope everything else takes care of itself. If you’re playing as well as you can for your club, then that will be watched and noted.’

Goalkeepers who watch Champions League football from their sofa are competing with Forster for a place on the plane. West Brom’s Ben Foster, a man who retired from international duty for two years after making five appearances for England, is back in the frame.

Competition: Forster is battling for a place in England's World Cup squad as No 2 to Joe Hart (right)

Former Motherwell loanee John Ruddy, capped once, is another contender while trying to keep Norwich City from slipping into the Championship. And there’s also 20-year-old Jack Butland of Stoke City, whose temporary stint at Barnsley earlier this season was the third loan spell of his career.

On his 86 saves made, Ruddy is the second-busiest custodian in the English top flight. Yet Forster has mastered the art of both the hectic top-class European arena and retaining focus to pull off a special stop on an otherwise peaceful afternoon in Paisley while Celtic are dismantling St Mirren at the other end.

One suspects that Forster need only sign for Leicester City in the summer and look impressively busy in the first month of the 2014/15 Barclays Premier League season to have the experts swooning and be the subject of a campaign to start England’s first Euro 2016 qualifier if Hart has a troubled summer.

Forster stresses that playing in Scotland was ‘not something that’s come up in conversation’ as an issue during his England squad appearances, which included a debut against Chile last November.

And nor should it on the back of two Champions League and one Europa League campaign in the last three seasons since leaving English football.

Sole outing: Forster won his only England cap to date in the defeat to Chile last November

‘Obviously, playing Champions League, too, is another massive consideration,’ said Forster. ‘Not many clubs down south get that chance. There are only four.

‘You can say that I don’t get tested that much up here. But there are other international keepers playing at clubs like Celtic and it can be the same for them — long periods of not being involved but then having something important to do in the last minute. And you have to do it well. It’s always important to make that save when it comes along. It means your concentration has to be even greater.

‘In the Champions League, you’re a lot busier. So that highlights again how lucky I am to be playing on that stage for Celtic. A club of this stature is very attractive and every player who joins Celtic is delighted to get the chance to play in Europe.

‘For me, Celtic has been a fantastic club and it will always be a big part of my life.

‘Dave Watson is England’s goalkeeping coach, he’s also at Norwich, and he’s been spot-on with me. I think everyone down south knows Celtic is a massive club.’

Everyone else seems to have voiced an opinion on the 11-in-a-row that began on Friday, December 6 at Fir Park. The self-effacing Forster now passes his verdict, claiming that he has refused to become side-tracked by the statistical significance of his weekly work for Celtic and defers much credit to defensive work of Emilio Izaguirre, Efe Ambrose and Virgil van Dijk.

Staying put: Forster is in no rush to leave Celtic

He explained: ‘If you get too drawn into it, then you can lose focus. After all, you can lose a goal through a deflection, or whatever, in an instant. So the record could go in a split second. It’s important you don’t get too tied up in it or too disappointed if we concede.

‘Of course, it’s nice to have that record in the background and people keep telling me about it. But I’ve not really felt much or paid much attention to it. It came along quietly. You keep a few in a row, then it builds up. I just go into each individual game to keep out the opposition, do my best.

‘It’s more about trying to play error-free games, doing the things you do well, than thinking at full-time: “I’ve kept another clean sheet”. We’ve all got our targets and standards and I try as hard as I can to stick to mine.

‘It has been nice to try to keep it going. There’s trying to maintain the unbeaten run as well. Going out the Champions League was disappointing but it does give us something to keep working towards.

‘I think it has been a massive team effort and something we’re all proud of. When you look back at games over the run, I remember Kris Commons clearing one off the line at a set-play, Adam Matthews has done the same. We’ve had Virgil and Efe being world class this season.

‘It’s been the same four, five who have played and that makes a big difference. Obviously, as the goalkeeper, it’s credited more to me but it really is something we’ve achieved together.’

The group are not likely to be together much longer. Neil Lennon has admitted he thinks ‘there will be something in the summer’ for Forster after serving Celtic so well for four seasons and working alongside goalkeeping coach Stevie Woods.

Unlike the World Cup Finals, his future away from Celtic is one close-season issue Forster would rather avoid.

He said: ‘I don’t know about that, the summer feels a long way away.

‘The manager has been complimentary and I’ll always thank him for putting his faith in me and bringing me on so much with the help of Woodsy. It’s nice of him making statements like that but it’s just a case of waiting and seeing what happens.

‘You can say that about a lot of players at the club and could say that about the manager himself. Over the last four years at the club, his achievements have been fantastic. It’s just a matter of time until he gets a job in the Premier League, or somewhere like that.’